


Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

by allofthefandoms



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alien Biology, Birth, Egg Laying, Future Fic, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 15:52:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1393507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofthefandoms/pseuds/allofthefandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Eggs.  My alien boyfriend is going through second puberty and is going to lay an egg.”  Billy slumped over the table, one hand on the ridiculously fancy coffee drink that Kate had insisted he buy.  He had needed to escape, needed someone to talk to about how absurd his life had become (Eggs.  Really?) and Kate was always up for a coffee shop therapy session.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NightsMistress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightsMistress/gifts).



> I am like 99% sure this is not what you wanted and I am so, so sorry.

“Eggs.  My alien boyfriend is going through second puberty and is going to lay an egg.”  Billy slumped over the table, one hand on the ridiculously fancy coffee drink that Kate had insisted he buy.  He had needed to escape, needed someone to talk to about how absurd his life had become (Eggs.  Really?) and Kate was always up for a coffee shop therapy session.

But this was the last time he let her pick the store.  Couldn’t they have gone to like, a Starbucks or something?  But no, it had to be a tiny upscale little place where the walls were smothered in Italian and he felt out of place in jeans and a t-shirt.

“It could be worse.”

“Oh, how could it possibly be worse?”

“Cheer up, sire.  You know what they say.”

“Nope not doing it.  Nice try, Katie Kate.”  She sipped her cinnamon something something latte with a pout.

“Fine, spoil sport.”

“My life is enough of a Monty Python sketch without randomly bursting into song,” Billy said, smiling despite himself.   Kate put a hand over his, giving him a light squeeze.

“Teddy’s in good hands.  You know that, right?”

“Is it so wrong that I’m scared?”  Billy asked.  “He’s not even fully Skrull.  What if something about his Kree biology gets in the way?  If…if something _breaks_ inside him, or if his body can’t…can’t birth it or something?”

“Teddy will be fine.  You on the other hand, I’m not so sure.”  Billy dropped his head into his hands, taking a deep breath.  He couldn’t tell Kate just how scared he was.  They had only known something was wrong because Teddy wouldn’t stop puking.  The team had called the Avengers because Teddy _never_ got sick, not even when the whole team was sick with the flu, and so seeing Teddy so miserable made everyone nervous.  Dr. Strange had been gentle, but even the lightest touch to his stomach had made Teddy whimper, and there was nothing Billy liked less than seeing his beloved in pain.

“Missed your calling as a doctor,” Teddy had said with a weak smile when it was all over.

Billy had laughed weakly, but he had been so scared, and he was still scared now.

“It will be okay,” Kate repeated.  “Teddy will be fine.”

Billy wasn’t so sure.

_9 years later_

“Kate I’m not ready to be a dad.”

                “Of course you are,” She said, eyes bright.  “If there’s anyone more ready to be parents than you and Teddy, I’ll eat my hat.”  Kate has aged utterly gracefully.  There’s a hint of grey at her temples now that she’s thirty, and Billy thinks the laugh lines around her mouth make her graceful, though he knows Kate still pokes at them in the mirror when she thinks no one’s looking.

As for the team?  Well, they’re sort of still together.  Tommy was still a full time superhero (“Sitting still has never suited me,” he had said, and no one had disagreed) and Kate and America go out when they can, though they’ve resisted being recruited for the West Coast Avengers.(“We’re our own team,” Kate had always insisted, and the others smiled.  Kate had never been one for taking other people’s orders.)   Noh-Var’s in and out, adamant that he can ease Kree/Skrull tensions (and not doing a half bad job) so the rest of them don’t see him very much.  David had returned to the X-Men, a sharp tactician and loyal friend.  No one knew what had happened to Loki.  There were rumors, of course.  But then again, when it came to Loki, there were always rumors.  On Billy and Teddy’s part, there wasn’t much going on that wasn’t, to use Kate’s phrase, saccharinely domestic.  They had gotten married two years ago, and Billy still did a little dance of happiness whenever he remembered that _Captain America_ had officiated their wedding.  Billy had been offered the title of Sorcerer Supreme after Mr. Voodoo, but he had declined, instead going to work at Xavier’s Institute to help teach young mutants.  (“Does that make me an X-Man now?”  “Well, you are the Scarlet Witch’s kid, Billy.  Mutant and proud!”)  Teddy liaisoned with the Avengers on occasion, but had settled into a quiet life mostly out of the limelight.  It was too easy to remember what happened when he had brought attention to himself as a teenager, and part of him worried that his lease on privacy was due to run out.

And so that brought them to this, Teddy about to pop out their first child while Billy held Kate’s hand in a coffee shop and tried not to hyperventilate.

“You’ll let the baby call me auntie, right?” Kate said, almost bouncing in her seat.  “I’ve always wanted kids, you know.  But ew, pregnancy.”

“Hey, Teddy’s beautiful!”

“Yeah, but do you know what that thing’s doing to his insides?”

“Don’t remind me…” Billy said, going slightly green.

“I keep telling you, everything will be fine,” Kate insisted.  “Your mom’s there, Dr. Strange is there-“

“I still can’t get over the fact that Dr. Strange is my husband’s midwife,” Billy said shaking his head.  “I know he knows a lot, and that we could hardly get a normal midwife or go to a hospital, but still…”

“You worry too much, Kaplan.”

“This is my husband.  My _kid_!”  Kate shook her head fondly.

“At the rate things are going, you’re going to need a paper bag.”

“You mock my pain.”

“Yes.  Yes I do.”

                                                                          ~ ~ ~

If it wasn’t for the crow’s feet haloing Teddy’s eyes, Billy would have sworn he wasn’t a day over twenty.  Someone had set him up against what looked like all the pillows in the Altman household to help him stay comfortable.  (“You’re royalty,” Billy had said when they were deciding if they were going to exchange names.  “Of course I’m taking yours.”)  Teddy was idly rubbing his heavy stomach, an excited little grin on his face.

“It’s early yet,” Dr. Strange said from his seat at the side of the bed.  “But Teddy wanted you here.  Sitting down on the bed, Billy pulled Teddy close, resting his own hand on the swell of Teddy’s stomach, eyes widening as he felt a contraction.

“No backing out now, Kaplan,” Kate said with a huge grin on her face.  “Ready or not, here she comes.”  Billy’s laughter in response to Kate’s light jibe was slightly nervous, but Teddy gave his hand an encouraging squeeze and Billy feels his nerves melting away.

But years of watching Teddy lay had not prepared him for the amount of pain Teddy was going through.  Some part of him had known the egg was going to be bigger and heavier with a child inside, but the reality of it was something else entirely.  Teddy had shifted into his Skrull form to make room for the life inside him, the swell of his stomach more prominent in his new form, pushed low by the relentless and rhythmic contractions.

“You said everything would be fine,” Billy said weakly to Kate, who was standing behind him massaging his shoulders.

“It is fine,” Kate insisted.  “Besides, I never said it wouldn’t be painful.”  Billy rolled his eyes, wiping a sweating strand of hair out of Teddy’s face.  Teddy whimpered as another contraction hit.

“Can I get on my hands and knees?” Teddy asked.  Steve nodded and helped Teddy up into a more comfortable position.  Teddy dropped his head to the pillows with a groan as another contraction hit.

It was hours of this before Teddy was ready to push.  He was lost in the rhythm of his body, Billy holding his hand a murmuring encouragement.

“I can see it babe,” Billy murmured as he got ready to catch their egg.  “Our baby is almost here.”  The words seemed to give Teddy a second wind, and he bore down, almost breaking Billy’s hand with the force.  A few more of these strong pushes and it was over, the egg slipping free in a splash of fluid.  Teddy sagged back into the bed as Billy wrapped the egg up in a blanket.  It was warm and pulsing, the creamy skin freckled with brown spots.  When Teddy made weak grabbing motions for them, Billy curled close, the egg sandwiched between them.

“When will it hatch?” Teddy asked.

“If it doesn’t hatch within 12 hours, break it open gently and call me,” Dr. Strange said.  “The child’s hybrid nature may make the hatching difficult.”

“But it’s healthy?” Billy asked.  Teddy stroked the warm shell, face drawn with concern

“You have a healthy child,” Steven assured them.  “Congratulations.”

The littlest Altman made her appearance four hours after she was born, coming out of her shell with a determined crack.  She quickly shed her Skrull form, green skin fading into an approximation of both her parents.  She gave a babbling little coo, and both her parents could already feel their hearts swelling with love.

“She has your hair,” Teddy said, tucking a dark curl away from their daughter’s face.

“And your jawline and nose.”

“Your eyes too.”

“And your giggle.”

“Oh, Billy, she’s just perfect,” Teddy sighed.  The new parents cradled their baby girl close as she began to drift off towards sleep.  She batted at them blindly, catching Teddy’s finger.

“What should we name her?” Teddy asked.

“Katie,” Billy said without hesitation, making Teddy smile.

“We’re here because of her,” Billy went on.  “Together, married, _alive_.  She’s our fearless leader and my best friend.  Nothing could be a more fitting tribute.”

“Hello, little Katie,” Teddy said with a smile.  “Welcome to the world.”


End file.
